16 days ago
The Sparta-Hancock County Library could end up laying folks off and cutting hours of operation.
Library officals said Wednesday that's because the Hancock Board of Education isn't paying its share of the cost.
Library trustee Kathy Ransom said the Hancock Board of Education has been shortchanging the library for years. Now, she said, the school board owes them more than $140,000.
"Their budget item to support the library is over $50,000, and so that is a cumulative figure," Ransom said. "They have been paying a little bit at a time, but each year as the budget rolls over, their funding deficit increases."
Ransom said if the board doesn't make some back payments soon, the library may have to make cuts.
"There is a possibility we may have to either layoff some employees or reduce the hours. They may be affected," Ransom said.
Aaron Culver, a technical college student, said he visits the library almost daily.
"I do a little research, try to keep up with what's going on in the world, try to keep focused on that," Culver said. "I listen to music. I upload on the MP3 player, cell phone."
Culver said he hopes there won't be cuts.
"They probably need to add more hours instead of substract," Culver said.
Library employee Karen Meeks said she doesn't want to see cuts either.
"The library in Hancock County is one of the best things going for the county," Meeks said. "So many people use this library every day, and it would be a shame if we closed this library, cut back the hours, because so many people depend on the library."
Library officials said they notified the board of education about the problem and hope to meet with the board soon to resolve it.
The Hancock library gets funding from the county commission, the City of Sparta and the board of education.
Attempts to reach school officials for comment about the funding were unsuccessful.
A spokes person at the board office said school superintendent Awanna Leslie wasn't available for comment. Board chairman Herbert Monroe didn't respond to our call.
